Bats hot for Black Sox but only manage split against Peace River

Ryan Stickel says the team was hot at the plate and gave credit to some of the younger players for taking the next step in their progression.

“I was really happy with the way guys were swinging the bats both games. A lot of the younger kids managed to make some adjustments from last weekend,” he states. “Everybody was taking good cuts at the ball. We saw a lot of results in the first game and even in the second game and we had quite a few hits there. Guys are really starting to see the ball well and come to the plate with a professional style.”

In the second game of the double header despite putting up a good effort at the plate, errors in the first inning put the Sox behind the eight ball and they never recover. Regardless Stickel was happy the team continued to battle in an attempted comeback.

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“That first inning definitely came back to bite us. Errors got us, I think we had three of four in that first inning and they managed to capitalize on it,” he explains. “I think we really battled back and came out good for the rest of the game. We couldn’t quite catch them but especially after last weekend where it seemed after the one bad inning it drained everybody. I was happy with that; we showed a lot of mental toughness after the first inning.”

The win gave the Black Sox their third win of the season which surpassed last year’s total. Stickel adds the first year players from last year have done a nice job improving on their skills

“Last year we had a young team like we do this year. It was a lot of new guys just coming up into a whole different group with people they’ve never met,” he says. This is a good league; it’s nothing you’re going to get drafted from but it’s a good league and a big step from little league. This year we have the new guys from last year coming back and a lot of the younger guys have managed to find a place to fit in and find their own role. The second year guys are more confident and that’s feeding into the younger guys.”

The Black Sox record now sits at 3-5 and will next take part in a three game mini tournament in Peace River when they take on Grande Prairie, Peace River, and Grimshaw respectively.

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